Almost Human
by SuperBlueGirl12
Summary: Santana was not like ordinary girls. Her parents are not her real parents. Her home is not her real home. She was one of a kind in an unfamiliar place. Or so she thought...
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, I'm back! With another new story. I know I'm really bad at finishing them but hopefully this one will get an ending. Let me know what you think!

* * *

 **Double Identity**

The glee club were gathered int he choir room for the first time that year, welcoming everyone back as well as welcoming some new faces to the team. Santana sat next to Brittany, her best friend, in the back row whilst she listened to their teacher Mr Schue explain their objective for the year. To win Nationals, there's a surprise. Santana had gotten very used to sitting in the back and letting everyone else get on with things. She was under the radar and that was the way she liked it. Her real name wasn't Santana Lopez, but she couldn't tell anyone that. The only people who knew were her parents. She was adopted when she was a baby, with only a letter and a blanket around her, by Maria and Santiago Lopez. Luckily they were both Hispanic and trying to have a baby of their own. Santana always thought that was a strange coincidence, so the people who abandoned her, her real parents, must have know what they were doing. Right? All she really knew is that this was not her world, this was not how her life was supposed to be. And she had the abilities to do anything she wanted to. The only problem was that if she revealed herself to anyone, even her friends, she would be outcast as a freak, a monster and a danger to everyone on the planet. As far as she knew she was the only one of her kind left, the only one of her race who survived, according to the letter left with her. Her home was far away through a dimension not know to humans.

'Santana.' She heard her name being called. 'San!' Brittany said louder, causing Santana to jump in her seat.

'Sorry, B, what's up?' She said.

'Glee finished, everyone is leaving.' Santana looked around the room and sure enough, everyone was moving.

'What do you want to do tonight?' Santana asked.

'I have a date with Artie, I told you that.' Brittany reminded her.

'Yeah, of course.' Santana looked over and saw Artie waiting by the door. 'Go, have fun.' She managed a smile as Brittany kissed her on the cheek and skipped out of the room. Her daydreaming had meant she didn't know what the assignment for the week was. 'Great.' She whispered, getting her bag and throwing it over her shoulder. She looked around for someone to ask and the only person left was one of the new girls. 'Hey.' Santana called as she was about to leave the room.

'Hi.' The girl said tentatively.

'You're Marley right?' Santana asked, the girl nodding confirmation. She was tall, taller than Santana, and had bright blue eyes that took Santana by surprise.

'Can I help you with something?' Marley asked.

'Yeah, what was the assignment, I completely zoned out.'

'Oh, it's songs about family, or home.' Marley informed her.

'Of course it is.' Santana shook her head.

'Are you okay?' Marley asked.

'I'm just peachy.' Santana smiled and walked past her out of the room.

-x-

Her car was currently in the shop getting repaired from a little fender bender she had a week ago, which meant Santana had the joy of walking home every day. She didn't mind it though, it gave her time to think and clear her head. She lived on the other side of Lima so she had plenty of time. Walking past the Lima Bean she heard a noise from the alley beside it. Someone was shouting. Night was almost upon her as she walked closer to the noise, the lights outside the coffee place illuminating nothing but the windows below them. Santana peered around the wall and looked down the narrow path. She could see a man shouting at someone else who was blocked buy the dumpster. Whatever they were talking about it wasn't friendly. All of a sudden the man lent into the other person and grabbed them before pulling them across the alley and slamming them into the wall. Santana now had a better view of this person, it was a woman and she looked terrified. Santana took her phone out of her pocket and quietly called the police. '911 what's your emergency?'

'I need to report a possible mugging outside the Lima Bean, i think someone's hurt.' Santana whispered.

'Okay, a squad car and an ambulance have been dispatched and will be there in approximately four minutes.'

'Thank you.' Santana said, putting her phone away. At this point the man had started to punch the woman, her consciousness fading. 'Damn it.' Santana said, dropping her bag on the floor. She turned into the alley and headed towards them. 'Hey!' She yelled. The man stopped what he was doing and turned to face her.

'Go away little girl, this is none of your business.' He growled.

'You need to leave her alone.' Santana said calmly.

'Who's going to make me?' He challenged. 'You?'

'Yeah, me.' Santana said, nerves creeping into her voice. The man grinned and dropped the woman to the floor. She was out cold.

'Come on then.' He said, walking towards her.

'Just leave, the police are on their way.' Santana warned him.

'But they're not here yet are they?' He grinned, coming closer and closer.

'I'm warning you.' Santana said, making the man laugh out loud. He was now only a few feet away and bigger than Santana had initially thought. Before she could say anything else, he swung for her. His fist connected with the left side of her face and she crashed into the wall.

'Did that hurt?' He asked sarcastically, 'I'm so sorry.' He grabbed the back of her jumper and pulled her in to face him. He was not prepared for what he saw. Santana's eyes had begun to glow, orange and red and yellow like a swirl of fire. She smiled this time and her hands began to burn. She pushed into his chest and he screamed, dropping her to the floor. 'What the?!...' He stumbled backwards and looked at her. 'What are you?' Santana didn't reply. She focused her energy and stared him down, willing all of her anger towards him. The force hit him before he knew what was happening and he was sent spinning down the alley. He landed with a thump on the concrete. Santana began to walk towards him but he was on his feet and running away from her moments later. Santana calmed herself down and the heat began to fade, her eyes returning slowly to their normal deep brown. She could hear sirens in the background but needed to check on the woman. Santana knelt beside her and looked at her face. She was bruised an unconscious but not dead as she began to stir. Santana stood up bathed in the darkness of the alley before turning, grabbing her bag, and running from the flashing blue and red lights at the end of the alley.

-x-

Santana opened the door to her room and put her things down on the bed. Her parents were out, thank goodness, as she switched the light on in the bathroom. The light was almost blinding as she studied her face in the mirror. There was a small cut under her eye and a bruise was already forming. It didn't hurt as much as she thought as she put a cold towel over it. 'Shit.' She whispered, leaning on the sink with her other hand. She had revealed herself in public. She had no choice but she was still worried about the man or the woman recognising her. What if they told the police? She doubted the man would risk jail to out her to the world but she wasn't one hundred percent certain. And the woman was so beat up Santana hoped she didn't remember anything. Only time would tell how safe she was now. Santana put the towel in the wash basket and got ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hurricane**

Santana closed her locker the next morning to find Brittany by her side. 'Morning San.' She beamed.

'Morning B.' Santana returned the greeting, turning to face her friend.

'What happened to your eye?' She asked.

'Oh this?' Santana said, laughing it off. 'I was an idiot and slipped in the shower last night, hit my head on the sink.'

'Does it hurt?' Brittany asked, looking over the bruise.

'No B, I promise I'm fine.'

'Okay, well we need to get to glee early today, Mr Schue has something to talk to us about.'

'Okay.' Santana smiled and followed as Brittany led them down the hall. Her smile faded when they rounded the corner and she saw their teacher standing next to a police officer. 'Come in girls, take a seat.' Mr Schue said when he saw them. Brittany led Santana up to their usual spots and then the officer began to talk.

'Alright, I'm officer Jones with the Lima Police Department.'

'What's this about?' Jake asked.

'It's nothing anyone has done, we're in all schools in the area today.'

'There was an incident at the Lima Bean last night.' Mr Schue informed them. Santana's head shot up, waiting for what came next.

'A young woman was mugged and beaten up pretty badly last night outside the coffee place. We're still looking for the man responsible.'

'I know you kids frequent the Lima Bean, so I wanted officer Jones to come and talk to you.' Mr Schue informed them.

'It's very important that you stay in groups and don't go anywhere alone after dark. This man is very dangerous.' Officer Jones continued.

'Why didn't you get him?' Kitty asked.

'When we arrived on the scene the woman was alone. She told us that someone intervened and scared the man off.'

'Who was that?' Tina asked.

'We don't know.' Officer Jones admitted. 'But the woman who was attacked could only tell us that she heard a female voice before she fell unconscious.'

'Dude, that chick must have been bad ass.' Ryder said.

'Not the time Ryder, Officer Jones needs you all to be careful until this man is caught.' Mr Schue said.

'And any information, if you guys do see anything, will be greatly appreciated. Your teacher has my card.' With that Jones left the room and let Mr Schue get on with the lesson.

'Okay, who has a song for us?' He began. Santana stared after the police officer, not paying attention to Marley, who was staring at her.

-x-

Glee finished and Santana went straight to the bathroom. She lent with her back against the toilet stall and tried to calm down as she heard the door swing open. 'Santana, are you in here?' It was Marley. 'Santana?' She said again. 'I needed to talk to you.'

'What about?' Santana called back.

'Can you come out here please?' Marley asked. Santana obliged, although she wasn't sure why, and opened the door. She walked towards the sinks and met Marley in the middle.

'What's up?' Santana asked.

'I wanted to see if you were okay.' Marley admitted. 'You have a bruised face.'

'Very good powers of observation there Marly.' Santana joked.

'I'm serious.' Marley said. 'What happened?'

'I fell in the shower.'

'That might fool Brittany, but I know what a punch leaves behind.' Marley said sadly, causing Santana to look up at her.

'You do huh?'

'Yeah, my dad wasn't the best of guys.'

'I'm sorry about that Marley.' Santana said.

'You know that's the most sincere I've ever heard you be.' Marley smiled.

'Well, it sucks that that happened.'

'It does. And I want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk about...' Marley looked over Santana's face once more.

'You think my dad did this?' Santana asked standing up straight. 'You are so far off base.'

'Denial is one of the stages Santana.'

'I'm not denying anything, it wasn't my dad.'

'Then who was it?'

'I got into a fight okay, I just don't like Brittany knowing.' Santana grabbed her bag and went to walk past Marley. The taller girl grabbed her arm before she could make it all the way past but reeled back right away. Santana stopped and looked at hr shocked face.

'You're so hot.' Marley said. 'It's like your skin should be burning.'

'When I get pissed off my body temp rises.' Santana said casually.

'Santana, are you sick?'

'No I'm not sick, what's with the twenty questions?'

'I'm just worried about you.'

'You don't know me well enough to be worried about me.' Santana said angrily, this time laving the room for good.

-x-

The next day at glee Mr Schue had more information on the mugging. 'So the woman was talking to the police and she though the person who saved her was young, as in high school young.' Santana slid down in her seat slightly as the conversation continued.

'How is that possible Mr Schue?' Rachel asked.

'I'm not sure, this woman was badly beaten so she could have been mistaken. The one thing she was sure about though, was that she felt the temperature rise.'

'That's so weird.' Artie said, but this revelation made Marley look to Santana. Their eyes connected and Santana knew she had been made.

'Well, if no one has anything to add we should probably get started.' He looked around the room. 'Santana, you're the last to go.' Santana broke Marley's gaze and made her way to the middle of the room. The music began to play.

 _Tick tack on the wall, screaming out a silent call_

 _could this be another warning_

 _higher pressure's got me falling_

 _into worlds I've never seen_

 _seemed so far away from me_

 _I always ran away from the storm_

 _maybe I haven't cried enough tears_

 _maybe I haven't laughed out loud_

 _maybe I have been stuck in amber_

 _just a part of the crowd_

 _nothing's wrong, nothing's changed_

 _here in the eye of the hurricane_

 _strong enough to take the pain_

 _far from the eye of the hurricane_

 _tick tack on the wall, could this be my wake-up call_

 _hiding underneath the sheets_

 _I wait for life to come to me_

 _think it's time to break these patterns_

 _systematic 'comes a habit_

 _am I strong enough to believe_

Santana looked at Marley who was watching her contently, listening to every word.

 _maybe I haven't cried enough tears_

 _maybe I haven't laughed out loud_

 _maybe I have been stuck in amber_

 _just a part of the crowd_

 _nothing's wrong, nothing's changed_

 _here in the eye of the hurricane_

 _strong enough to take the pain_

 _far from the eye of the hurricane_

 _carry on, carry on, just to get along_

 _nothing's wrong, nothing's changed_

 _here in the eye of the hurricane_

 _strong enough to take the pain_

 _far from the eye of the hurricane_

The music sopped and they gave Santana a round of applause. 'Very nice.' Mr Schue said as she made her way back to her seat. 'How did singing that make you feel?'

'I'm not sure.' Santana admitted.

'You chose that song for a reason, there must be something?'

'I guess I feel like this is my home, this is where I grew up, but that doesn't mean its all sunshine and rainbows. There are worse places out there to be.'

'Okay, well thank you for sharing.' Mr Schue turned to the entire group. 'I need suggestions for sectionals so anything you want to sing for the next few weeks can be considered.' He turned to the board as Santana's phone vibrated in her pocket. She opened the message and saw it was from her mother; _Come home as soon as you can. Love you. xx_


	3. Chapter 3

**New Friend**

Santana was the first one out of the choir room but Marley was hot on her heels. 'Santana.' She called but Santana didn't stop walking. 'Santana we need to talk about this.'

'There's nothing to talk about Marley.' Santana said over her shoulder.

'Really, because I think there is.' Marley stopped as Santana whirled on her.

'You need to shut up.' Santana was right in her face. 'You don't know anything.'

'I know it was you who saved that woman.' Marley said, stunning Santana momentarily.

'It wasn't me.'

'That look on your face proves to me that it was.' Marley took her hand. 'You're still warm Santana.'

'I'm still pissed off.'

'You're so nervous all the time, you have a massive black eye, and your average temperature would kill most people.' Marley dropped her hand. 'You can talk to me. I won't tell anyone.' Santana thought to herself for a moment, gritting her teeth.

'Ugh, fine.' She said, defeated. Marley smiled and started to speak but Santana cut her off. 'But not here, I have to get home. I'll call you when I can talk, okay?'

'Okay.' Marley agreed as Santana walked off towards her house.

-x-

Santana walked through the door to her house and was met with the hard stares of her mother and father. 'We need to talk.' Her father said. She put her bag on the floor and followed them into the living room. Santana sat on the sofa opposite her parents, waiting for them to start.

'You have no idea what using your powers like that means Santana.' Her father said calmly.

'I saved that woman dad.' Santana pointed out. 'I had no choice.'

'You could have waited for the police.' Her mother said.

'No I couldn't have, he was about to kill her.' Santana protested. 'Or would you have rather I watched her die?'

'We are proud of you for helping, we taught you to be strong and brave, but Santana...' Her father paused.

'But what?' Santana lent forwards. 'Someone tell me what's going on.'

'We thought you were the only one of your kind Santana.' Her mother started. 'Then, when you were four years old we got a letter saying that you might be one of a few, not the only one.'

'You mean, there could be more people out there like me?'

'Yes.' Her father confirmed.

'But who gave you that letter? My birth parents?'

'We don't know, it was just in the mail.' Maria informed her.

'Okay, but I don't get why me using my powers is a problem.' Santana said, confused.

'The letter said that your powers might attract the others.'

'Like some sort of bat signal?'

'Something like that.' Santiago confirmed.

'Again, I don't see that as bad. I want to not be the only freak in town.'

'First of all, you are not a freak.' Maria said. 'But the letter said that not everyone is as good as you. They may want to hurt you.'

'What? Why?' Santana stood up. 'What aren't you telling me?'

'Santana.' Her father tried to calm her.

'Don't Santana me, tell me what you know.'

'You were given to us for a reason. Your world was being destroyed by a powerful evil and they knew that you would be the key to completing the destruction.'

'Why did they think that?' Santana asked, sitting back on the edge of the sofa.

'Your parents...' Santana's eyes began to glaze over. 'Were the King and Queen of a place called Adralin. It's not a planet, or a place, but a dimension. We're not sure how you get there, but your parents managed to get you here, to us.' Maria smiled.

'You knew who my parents were, this whole time?'

'We did, but they instructed us not to tell you anything about where you were from, not even about them.' Santiago said.

'Are they still... are they alive?' Santana asked, a tear falling down her face.

'No Santana, they're not.' Maria told her. 'They died fighting the evil who was trying to destroy Adralin.'

'So, this evil, why do I matter?'

'You are the only daughter of the royal family Santana. You could potentially bring peace to the dimension.'

'So, I'm a princess?'

'By blood, yes.' Santiago smiled. 'If this evil knew you were still alive they would hunt you down for sure.'

'So the evil managed to get here with me? Who, or what, is the evil?'

'We're not sure, but they weren't the only ones who got through.' Maria said. 'Any who could, left Adralin when the war started. We're not sure how many there are.'

'So, I'm a princess, some sort of evil wants me dead, and there could be more of me?' Santana looked back and forth from her parents.

'Yes. We know this is a lot to take in Santana.' She stood up from her chair and made for the door.

'I need a minute.' Santana said.

'Santana.' Her father called.

'I'll be careful, okay, I just need some air.' With that she slammed the door behind her and walked out into the closing darkness. She took a deep breath, wiped the drying tears from her face, and took out her phone. After a few rings Marley answered. 'I think I need to talk now.' Santana said.

-x-

Twenty minutes later Santana was sitting on the floor of Marley's bedroom with her back to the wall. She had just retold her story and was waiting for a response. 'Say something.' She pleaded. Marley was staring at her.

'Wow.' Marley said.

'Yeah, wow.' Santana agreed. She got up and sat next to Marley on the bed.

'Can you...' Marley turned to her. 'Can you show me?'

'I can do something small, my parents said it was too dangerous to do much.'

'Okay.' Marley nodded as Santana closed her eyes and concentrated. After a few deep breaths she opened her eyes and looked to Marley. They were once again swimming with fire. 'Oh my...' She whispered. 'They're beautiful.' She looked down as Santana lifted her hand and saw a small ball of fire sitting on her palm. 'You're on fire.' Santana laughed.

'Pyrokenisis is my speciality.'

'That's amazing.' Marley said, putting her hand over the fire so that she could feel the heat. 'What else can you do?' Santana closed her palm and put out the fire, then her eyes returned to normal.

'I can make forcefields sometimes, but I have to concentrate and it takes a lot of energy, and I can shoot energy from my hands.'

'Of course you can.' Marley smiled. 'Look, I just wanted to thank you for trusting me with this. I know we're not exactly friends.'

'We're friends Marley, I was just being a bitch before.'

'I get it, you didn't want anyone to know.'

'That's true. And you can't tell anyone, I don't know who I can trust.' Santana said.

'Well, you can trust me.' Marley took her hand. 'Is there anyway you can cool down?' She said, dropping it quickly.

'Oh shit, sorry.' Santana said. 'It takes me a while to go back to normal.'

'That's so strange. But at least you're a princess, that's pretty cool.'

'I'm the princess of a dimension that I didn't know existed. I'm hardly royalty.'

'No, but your parents were.'

'Yeah, they were.' Santana said, looking down.

'Hey, why don't we celebrate this new friendship by doing a duet in glee club?'

'You know, that's a great idea.' Santana said. 'I'll meet you in the choir room tomorrow and we can pick something.' Marley nodded. 'Thank you for listening.' Santana said, before getting up and walking towards the door. 'I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Bye Santana.' Marley said. Once Santana had left her house, Marley went to her bedroom mirror. She studied herself for a moment before her eyes began to turn an ice blue, darker shades spinning around inside them. She let a huge smile cross her face. 'I've finally found her.'


	4. Chapter 4

**Human**

'Okay.' Mr Schue said as he entered the room. 'I believe we have the first sectionals suggestion. Santana, Marley, the floor is yours.'

'Thanks Mr Schue.' Marley said.

'Hang on a minute.' Kurt said. 'You two like each other?'

'Do you have a problem with that?' Quinn said, sticking up for the other girls.

'I'm just saying... it's weird.' Kurt slouched down in his seat.

'We have a song we want to put forward for the competition.' Santana said as the music kicked in.

Marley started with the first verse;

 _I can hold my breath  
I can bite my tongue  
I can stay awake for days  
If that's what you want  
Be your number one_

 _I can fake a smile  
I can force a laugh  
I can dance and play the part  
If that's what you ask  
Give you all I am_

 _I can do it  
I can do it  
I can do it_

Santana came in on the chorus and then took over the second verse.

 _But I'm only human  
And I bleed when I fall down  
I'm only human  
And I crash and I break down  
Your words in my head, knives in my heart  
You build me up and then I fall apart  
'Cause I'm only human_

 _I can turn it on  
Be a good machine  
I can hold the weight of worlds  
If that's what you need  
Be your everything_

 _I can do it  
I can do it  
I'll get through it_

They looked at each other and took the next part together.

 _But I'm only human  
And I bleed when I fall down  
I'm only human  
And I crash and I break down  
Your words in my head, knives in my heart  
You build me up and then I fall apart  
'Cause I'm only human_

 _I'm only human  
I'm only human  
Just a little human_

 _I can take so much  
'Til I've had enough_

Marley stepped back and let Santana take the last chorus, the music fading as she finished.

 _'Cause I'm only human  
And I bleed when I fall down  
I'm only human  
And I crash and I break down  
Your words in my head, knives in my heart  
You build me up and then I fall apart  
'Cause I'm only human_

The song finished and the girls looked at each other, embracing in a hug as everyone clapped. 'That was great you guys, an excellent suggestion.' They both took their seats. Santana sat in the front next to Marley, leaving Brittany looking confused with Artie by her side.

-x-

Santana walked into the lunch hall and saw Marley sitting with Mercedes and Tina. She took her tray over and joined them. 'Hey Santana, how was science?' Marley asked.

'Very boring, science is not my thing.' She admitted.

'When did you two become lunch buddies?' Mercedes wondered as Kurt and Rachel joined them.

'Since now.' Marley said, looking at Santana. 'We have more in common than we realised.'

'You do?' Kurt said out loud.

'Yeah, now drop it before I drop you.' Santana said.

'What does that even mean?' Kurt looked confused.

'Anyway, they're friends, just like we are all friends.' Quinn said. 'Get over it.'

'Thank's Q.' Santana said. Marley knocked into Santana's shoulder and grinned at her. After the final bell rang Santana went to find Marley at her locker. She was just putting her books away. 'You have a car right?' Santana asked.

'I do have a car.' Marley confirmed.

'Do you want to do something tonight? Go into town?'

'Sure, I'd love to.' Marley agreed. 'I need to be home by ten though, curfew.'

'No problem.' Santana said as they began to walk out together. Brittany rounded the corner and beamed at them.

'Hey guys.' She said, they both returned the greeting. 'Santana, do you want to come over mine tonight? My mum is making your favourite.'

'I can't tonight B, I have plans with Marley.'

'Okay, that's fine.' Brittany said sadly.

'But we'll do it another time?'

'Yeah sure.' Brittany said, giving them a small smile as she carried on down the hall.

'She seemed sad.' Marley said.

'I know, but we've been drifting lately. Between her and Artie, and me and my... you know... we've just not been spending as much time together.'

'Does that bother you? I know you love her.'

'I used to love her.' Santana corrected. 'We've been over for a long time.'

'Right, sorry.' Marley said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

'What about you and Jake? He's pretty cute.' Santana grinned. 'But he is a Puckerman so I'd be careful.'

'Jake and I are just friends.' Marley said. 'He's not really my type.' Marley confirmed, Santana looking at her, intrigued.

-x-

They pulled into the parking lot at the mall half an hour later. Santana got out and looked around. 'Coffee?' She said, turning to Marley.

'Sounds good.' Marley replied and they began walking towards the Ground Bean coffee place. 'But why do all of the coffee shops in this town end in Bean?'

'I have no idea, lack of imagination?' Santana responded. Marley laughed as they walked up to the counter. 'What's your poison?'

'Just black coffee please.' Marley said, Santana raising her eyebrows.

'Okay, this one's on me.' Santana smiled and placed their order. Their coffees came a few moments later and they took them to a table in the back for some privacy. 'So, you're not freaked out by me?' Santana asked.

'Why would I be freaked out?' Marley asked.

'Oh I don't know, because I can shoot fire from my hands.' Santana said.

'No, trust me, I've seen weirder.'

'You have?' Santana took a sip of her coffee.

'Look,' Marley paused. 'There's something I need to tell you, something about me.'

'Okay, this just got serious.' Santana said leaning forwards. 'Why do you sound so nervous?'

'Because i'm not supposed to say anything.'

'Is this about your dad? About what he did?' Santana wondered.

'No, he's not... he's not my real dad.' Marley admitted.

'Stepdad?' Santana wondered.

'Not exactly.' Marley looked around, a chill shooting down her spine. 'Can you feel that?' She asked.

'Feel what?' Santana followed her eyes but the coffee shop looked normal. 'Marley, what's going on?' Marley didn't respond, but when she turned back to Santana her eyes were bright blue. 'What the hell?' Santana looked into them. 'Marley?'

'We need to move, now.' She ordered, just as the doors to the coffee shop were blown inwards.


End file.
